Workplace Innovationhttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/workplace-innovation
en-usSun, 02 Aug 2015 15:52:35 -0400Sun, 02 Aug 2015 15:52:35 -0400The latest news on Workplace Innovation from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/faith-popcorn-on-the-future-of-the-workplace-2015-3A futurist lays out a wild vision for the future of work — here's what your career could look like in 2025http://www.businessinsider.com/faith-popcorn-on-the-future-of-the-workplace-2015-3
Thu, 12 Mar 2015 16:20:32 -0400Richard Feloni
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5500ab78eab8eacb23b843e2-600-/aa-24.jpg" border="0" alt="faith popcorn" width="600"></p><p>Futurist <a href="http://www.faithpopcorn.com/">Faith Popcorn</a> predicts that technology will no longer be a tool for humanity in 2025, but part of us — not to mention our coworkers.</p>
<p>In 10 years, <span>she thinks </span>robots will have replaced one-third of jobs currently in existence in the developed world, and governments will need to enforce a Disemployment Tax to keep humans employed.</p>
<p>Rather than having an office job at a single company, she believes the typical adult will have jobs at multiple companies simultaneously and will work from home. They may even take vacations in virtual reality.</p>
<p>Popcorn, who runs the marketing consulting firm BrainReserve, gave a presentation detailing her vision <span>in January </span>at the <a href="http://www.purematter.com/futureofwork">PureMatter Thinkathon</a>, a marketing conference sponsored by IBM.</p>
<p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">A BrainReserve r</span>epresentative tells Business Insider that the presentation is used as the impetus for a marketing conversation with clients. "'The Future of Work' slides represent the distant future of work," <span>the rep says.</span> "A key component of BrainReserve's methodology is backcasting — laying out a view of the future and then working backwards to help clients make sense of the world/their customers in the nearer future (i.e., the present, next five years, seven years) and helping them plan accordingly."</p>
<p>Many of the ideas seem outlandish in 2015, but Popcorn previously made some insightful predictions in her 1992 book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Popcorn-Report-Future-Company/dp/B000C4SGNM">The Popcorn Report</a>." For example, she was spot-on back in '92 about computers replacing newspapers, with advertisements targeted to the reader.</p>
<p>So maybe the career as we know it will be nearly extinct by 2025, and Apple will replace iPhones with embeddable arm chips. Who knows?</p>
<p>Here's the full presentation:</p>
<div><div>
<iframe src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/45483056" width="595" height="485" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" style="border:1px solid #CCC; border-width:1px; margin-bottom:5px; max-width: 100%;" allowfullscreen> </iframe> <div style="margin-bottom:5px"> <strong> <a href="//www.slideshare.net/fpbrtrend/the-future-of-work-final-januarysm" title="The Future Of Work" target="_blank">The Future Of Work</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="//www.slideshare.net/fpbrtrend" target="_blank">Faith Popcorn's BrainReserve</a></strong> </div>
</div></div>
<p class="embed-spacer"></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/left-brain-right-brain-thinker-myth-2015-3" >Neuroscientist debunks one of the most popular myths about the brain</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/faith-popcorn-on-the-future-of-the-workplace-2015-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/follow-up-questions-end-job-interview-2015-1">7 smart questions to ask at the end of every job interview</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/levis-helped-define-business-casual-2014-8How Levi's Made 'Business Casual' The Standard In American Workplaceshttp://www.businessinsider.com/levis-helped-define-business-casual-2014-8
Tue, 12 Aug 2014 11:30:00 -0400Richard Feloni
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/53e931b56bb3f7394235c065-480-/casual-biz-6.jpg" border="0" alt="casual biz 6" width="480"></p><p>If you're wearing khakis or jeans instead of a suit in an office right now, you have clothing giant Levi Strauss &amp; Co. to thank for that.</p>
<p>Before it promoted its jeans and Dockers brand khakis in a casual dress code guide in 1992, "the idea of casual wear existed but was not necessarily defined and focused in such a way a consumer could understand,"&nbsp;<span>Dockers chief marketing officer Adrienne Lofton tells Business Insider.</span></p>
<p>The idea of ditching a suit for more comfortable clothes can be traced back to Hewlett-Packard's "casual Fridays," which were introduced in the 1950s, <a href="http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/10.19.00/casual-0042.html">MetroActive</a> <span>reports&nbsp;</span>in an October 2000 article. <a href="http://www.levistrauss.com/unzipped-blog/2014/07/dockers-and-the-birth-of-casual-fridays/">Levi's also credits</a> the Hawaiian Fashion Guild for promoting a relaxed dress code with the 1966 "Aloha Fridays" campaign that got people around the state to celebrate their culture by wearing Hawaiian shirts to work.</p>
<p>Then in the early 1990s, when the American apparel industry was doing poorly, Levi's noticed a huge opportunity. Casual work attire had spread far beyond Silicon Valley and Hawaii on the growing assumption that a relaxed dress code would lead to happier and more productive employees. But, whether companies allowed employees to ditch a suit just on Friday or every day, many workers interpreted "casual" as a chance to get sloppy and inappropriate. Levi's executives got to work on a solution.</p>
<p>"We did not create casual business wear. What we did was identify a trend and see a business opportunity," Daniel M. Chew, Levi's former consumer marketing director for North America, tells <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/stories/1996-03-31/levis-vs-dot-the-dress-code">Bloomberg Businessweek</a> in a March 1996 article.</p>
<p>So in 1992, Levi's marketing team crafted "A Guide to Casual Businesswear," a pamphlet that showed professionals smartly dressed in Levi's products, notably its Dockers khakis, a young brand that had been mostly confined to the golf course. The company sent the pamphlet to 25,000 HR departments across the country.</p>
<p>We found the full pamphlet on <a href="http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/workplace-culture/dress-code-history-business-casual">Marketplace's site</a>, and have included scans of its pages below. Here's the page of text included in the guide:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Whether dressing casually every day or for a special event, determine what is acceptable for different business situations. Although each company develops its own dress guidelines, many companies with existing casual policies find general agreement on the following tips for wearing casual businesswear:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">• Casual does not mean sloppy. You can dress casually <em>and</em> look professional.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">• Keep wrinkled, stained or dirty clothing out of the workplace.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">• Avoid ripped jeans and "distressed" clothes.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">• Sleeveless shirts and tank tops are inappropriate for most offices; cover bare shoulders with a blazer or cardigan if necessary.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">• Leave flashy, "loud" clothing (including T-shirts with printed messages) at home.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">• Avoid lingerie looks or too revealing outfits in the office. Be sure to check that garments are not too transparent.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">• Accessories can make or break a casual outfit; consider the style and tone of the outfit when choosing belts, scarves, ties and jewelry.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">• Save athletic clothing, workout wear, beachwear and sweats for after work.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">• Don't forget to check footwear; open-toe sandals and sneakers may not be appropriate. Bare legs can also be considered too casual.</p>
<p>HR reps would hand out the guide to employees, and Levi's would have a hotline available for advice on how to adjust to a company's relaxed dress code.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/53e9315b6bb3f7d54135c05d-1200-850/casual-biz-1.jpg" border="0" alt="casual biz 1" width="800"></p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/53e93171ecad04964e35c05f-1200-850/casual-biz-2.jpg" border="0" alt="casual biz 2" width="800"></p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/53e9318069beddbc19a02e98-1200-850/casual-biz-3.jpg" border="0" alt="casual biz 3" width="800"></p>
<p>The campaign, which Businessweek notes markets clothes without blatant logos or product names, became a tremendous success. After the guide, Levi's got to work consulting with thousands of companies like IBM and Aetna.</p>
<p>Companies even came to them for help. In the summer of '95, Charles Schwab &amp; Co.'s leadership became distressed over the fact that its employees were abusing its new casual dress code policy, showing up to work in "everything from sweat suits to torn jeans," Businessweek reports. After learning about Levi's campaign, Charles Schwab &amp; Co. distributed Levi's dress code guide to employees and had showings of an instructional video that the clothing company had produced.</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53e93192ecad047b5435c05d-1200-850/casual-biz-4.jpg" border="0" alt="casual biz 4" width="800"></p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/53e931a569beddb51aa02e98-1200-850/casual-biz-5.jpg" border="0" alt="casual biz 5" width="800"></p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53e931cbecad04024f35c06a-1200-850/casual-biz-7.jpg" border="0" alt="casual biz 7" width="800"></p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53e932fd69bedd721fa02e99-1200-850/casual-biz-10.jpg" border="0" alt="casual biz 10" width="800"></p>
<p>In 1995, 90% of companies surveyed by Evans Research had either a full-time or part-time casual dress code, up from around 66% in 1992, Levi's states. And in 1995, Levi's had record sales of $6.2 billion, up 10% from the previous year, reports Businessweek, and today Dockers is the number-one brand of khaki pants.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/53e9330c6bb3f7754635c05d-1200-850/casual-biz-11.jpg" border="0" alt="casual biz 11" width="800"></p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/53e9331b69beddde23a02e98-1200-850/casual-biz-12.jpg" border="0" alt="casual biz 12" width="800"></p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/53e9332f6bb3f7d24635c061-1200-850/casual-biz-13.jpg" border="0" alt="casual biz 13" width="800"></p>
<p>It's sufficient to say that the flood of guides, videos, seminars, and hotline advice had a real impact. Levi's figured out a way to define a dress code, turning an entire country of professionals into its consumers.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-dress-for-work-business-attire-2014-8" >How To Dress Like A Leader In Any Work Environment</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/levis-helped-define-business-casual-2014-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/why-you-should-help-your-employees-make-mistakes-2013-9Why You Should Help Your Employees Make Mistakeshttp://www.businessinsider.com/why-you-should-help-your-employees-make-mistakes-2013-9
Tue, 01 Oct 2013 07:17:08 -0400Alison Griswold
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5249cfc3eab8ea435cfa799a-480-/dan-levin-178543.jpg" border="0" alt="Dan Levin 178543" width="480" /></p><p>At a small company, mistakes aren't bad. They're important.</p>
<p>Mistakes are a sign that a company's employees move fast, explains&nbsp;Dan Levin, chief operating officer of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.box.com/" target="_blank">Box</a>, a Los Altos, Calif.-based content sharing company, in a&nbsp;<a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228379" target="_blank">recent post for Entrepreneur</a>. Young companies need to prioritize speed to compete today, making mistakes a necessary byproduct of a highly productive and efficient workplace.</p>
<p>"<span>As leaders, maximum throughput, not perfection, is what we should be solving for," Levin writes. "Mistakes are a cost, but speed is a benefit. It's critical to understand that at some point in your efforts to minimize mistakes, you're going to lose out on maximizing workplace productivity and efficiency."</span></p>
<p><span>Levin says Box follows four guidelines to cultivate a culture of fast work and embrace the mistakes that come with it. We've excerpted them below:</span></p>
<ol>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Tell everyone upfront that mistakes will not only be accepted, but are in fact critical in the interest of speed, so long as the mistakes are made in good faith, not repeated, and promptly fixed.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Reinforce the message by announcing a couple of your own mistakes &mdash; at least to your own team &mdash; and celebrating their rapid repair.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Don't send conflicting messages by flogging people for honest mistakes. Fix the problem, not the blame and take the opportunity to remind the team that mistakes are valued over the price of speed.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Promote those who get the most useful work done, not the ones who make the least mistakes.</span></li>
</ol>
<div>"<span>If you run fast," Levin concludes, "you'll stumble from time to time. Convince your team that the occasional stumble is worth it and will be saluted rather than censured."</span></div>
<div><span><br /></span></div>
<div><span><em>Want your business advice featured in Instant MBA? Submit your tips to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:tipoftheday@businessinsider.com">tipoftheday@businessinsider.com</a>. Be sure to include your name, your job title, and a photo of yourself in your email.</em><span><br /></span></span></div><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-you-should-help-your-employees-make-mistakes-2013-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-future-of-workplace-diversity-is-here-2013-9Why 'Thought Diversity' Is The Future Of The Workplacehttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-future-of-workplace-diversity-is-here-2013-9
Fri, 27 Sep 2013 11:56:46 -0400Alison Griswold
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/52449528eab8eacd6c4a8dae-480-/thought-by-orphanjones-via-flickr.jpg" border="0" alt="Thought by orphanjones via flickr" width="480" /></p><p>The future of workplace diversity is here, and it's not what you think. In fact, it's how you think.</p>
<p>While we've long known that gender, race, and cultural diversity create better organizations, the newest workplace frontier is all about our minds. According to a <a href="http://dupress.com/articles/diversitys-new-frontier/" target="_blank">recent study</a> by consulting and professional services company Deloitte, cultivating "diversity of thought" at your business can boost innovation and creative problem-solving.</p>
<p>People bring different cultures, backgrounds, and personalities to the table &mdash; and those differences shape how they think. Some people are analytical thinkers, while others thrive in creative zones. Some are meticulous planners, and others love spontaneity. By mixing up the types of thinkers in the workplace, Deloitte believes companies can stimulate creativity, spur insight, and increase efficiency.</p>
<p>Varying the types of thinkers in a company also helps guard against "groupthink," a dangerous tendency in groups to focus first and foremost on group conformity, often at the expense of making good decisions.</p>
<p>"A lot of organizations drive toward consensus, but we&rsquo;re trying to say, 'hey, that's not the best way of doing things,'" says Nes Diaz-Uda, senior consultant at Deloitte Consulting LLP and one of the study's authors.</p>
<p>Diversity of thought, or "thought diversity" is still an emerging field, but the authors expect it to grow, since new neurological technologies that assess how people think are beginning to hit the marketplace. In the meantime, here are five simple steps the folks at Deloitte suggest managers can take to increase the thought diversity in their companies:</p>
<p><strong>Hire the unconventional candidate. </strong><strong><br /></strong></p>
<p>You've just interviewed three candidates; let's call them Jeff, Rose, and Spencer. When you asked all three the same 10 questions, Jeff answered seven right, Rose six, and Spencer only five. Naturally, you're inclined to hire Jeff and Rose. But then you notice that Spencer answered correctly all the questions that your two other candidates missed. In his book &ldquo;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Difference-Diversity-Creates-Societies/dp/0691138540/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1380222771&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=The+Difference" target="_blank">The Difference</a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Difference-Diversity-Creates-Societies/dp/0691138540/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1380222771&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=The+Difference" target="_blank">,</a>&rdquo; University of Michigan economist Scott Page uses precisely this scenario to illustrate how managers could vary their practices to hire for more thought diversity. Page found that most companies would have hired Jeff and Rose &mdash; the two candidates with the highest scores. But the smarter move might be to higher Spencer, Page says, because he was able to answer questions the other two missed, suggesting he brings a different way of thinking to the table.</p>
<p><strong>Know your team, and leverage their unique talents.</strong></p>
<p>The first step any manager should take, says Deloitte specialist leader Carmen Medina, is to assess the team. Who's a creative thinker? Mathematically inclined? Good with words? Strong managers know which particular skills their employees have, and use that knowledge to assign work that plays to specific employee's strengths. Having a staff of employees who each contribute in unique ways and maximizing the value of their individual talents will bolster the company as a whole.</p>
<p><strong>Rephrase your questions to encourage honest feedback. </strong></p>
<p>A common question for a boss to ask his team at the end of a presentation is: "What do you think?" Well, this question is a death knell for thought diversity. It's broad, vague, and often leaves the listeners wondering what, exactly, their boss wants to hear.</p>
<p>Instead, it's important for managers to ask clear, specific questions that are designed to elicit constructive criticism and diverse opinions. Rather than asking employees what they think, for example, Medina says a manager could ask something like, "What part of my proposal did you like the least?"</p>
<p><strong>Encourage "reverse mentoring" on your team to get a mix of perspectives.</strong></p>
<p>With new technology constantly rolling out, it's increasingly common to see younger workers teaching older ones how to use the new tools. This process of "reverse mentoring" helps younger employees feel like their ideas are valued and provides a fresh perspective for more established office members. Managers can help encourage reverse mentorship among their teams, or company leaders can put a formal program in place like networking and communications manufacturer <a href="http://blogs.cisco.com/diversity/how-we-plan-to-use-cisco%E2%80%99s-reverse-mentoring-programme-to-encourage-inclusion-and-diversity/" target="_blank">Cisco Systems did</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Create a culture that is open to new ideas, and start with yourself.</strong></p>
<p><strong></strong>Thought diversity is about how people think, and that's a reflection of who they are. If your employees don't feel comfortable being themselves in the office, then their varied ideas and ways of thinking won't come to the fore. It's important for managers not to stifle conversations or be close-minded to suggestions, even on their own ideas.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-future-of-workplace-diversity-is-here-2013-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/creative-collaboration-steelcase-2013-2How To Outperform Experts With Creative Collaborationhttp://www.businessinsider.com/creative-collaboration-steelcase-2013-2
Tue, 26 Feb 2013 10:34:20 -0500
<div style="padding: .125em 1em 1em; background-color: #eee;">
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/512bba59eab8ead950000009-400-300/sc_na_sponsoredpost_400x300.jpg" border="0" alt="steelcase-creative-collaboration_sponsoredpost_400x300" />Put an expert up against a group of non-experts working together, and who'll come up with the better idea? You might be surprised.</span><br /><br />Terry West, director of research at office-furniture company&nbsp;<a href="http://www.steelcase.com/en/pages/homepage.aspx" target="_blank">Steelcase</a>, says a lone expert will produce a quick, "adequate" solution, whereas&nbsp;a group of average workers "will take longer ... but they'll outperform the expert every time."<br /><br />Progressive companies are reaping rewards from creative collaboration&mdash;people of different disciplines working toward a common goal. Maximizing their productivity requires a basic understanding of workplace interaction and human behavior.<br /><br /><strong>The Social/Private Balance</strong><br /><br />The best collaborative models balance group with individual work. Even the most social employees need privacy, whether to think or just to have some alone time.<br /><br />Julie Barnhart-Hoffman, interior design researcher at Steelcase, believes space that's clearly defined can help. "When I walk into a space that is zoned as a 'library,'" she says, "the space should communicate that it's a place for quiet and reflection. &hellip; Then when I walk into a collaboration space, it prompts me about how open and collaborative the space is going to be."</p>
<p><strong>Flexibility And Choice</strong><br /><br />Standing-level tables can promote a democratic environment, as can surfaces that facilitate working side by side. Yet executives should also encourage teams to "own" their space by repurposing or customizing it to their needs.<br /><br />Creative collaboration represents the best way to harness employees' collective inspiration. By configuring workspaces for both interaction&nbsp;and privacy, companies create the opportunity for the collaborative whole to be greater than the sum of its parts.<br /><br /> For more on getting the most out of creative collaboration, <strong>read Steelcase's&nbsp;<a href="http://360.steelcase.com/articles/future-focused/" target="_blank">article "Future Focused."</a></strong></p>
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<p>Find out <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sponsor-posts">more about Sponsor Posts.</a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/creative-collaboration-steelcase-2013-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/video-conference-setup-steelcase-2013-2Your Video-Conference Setup Could Be Costing You Productivityhttp://www.businessinsider.com/video-conference-setup-steelcase-2013-2
Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:22:53 -0500
<div style="padding: .125em 1em 1em; background-color: #eee;">
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5126840feab8eadd36000011-400-300/steelcase-videoconf-400x300b.jpg" border="0" alt="steelcase videoconf 400x300b" />If you've attended a meeting in which your coworkers are in one room but you're on the phone, you know there's a difference between physical and virtual presence.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.steelcase.com/en/pages/homepage.aspx" target="_blank">Steelcase</a> researchers call that "presence disparity," when people in the same physical space have an advantage over those who are remote. With the rise of the global workforce&mdash;<a href="http://worktogether.cisco.com/mobile/sources.html" target="_blank">62 percent of employees</a> regularly correspond with people in different time zones&mdash;video tools are fast becoming a part of daily work life. But is that video experience best serving employees' needs?<br /><br /><strong>Video Everywhere</strong><br /><br />Calling into a meeting by phone, you can't hear everyone or read their body language; you wonder why everyone starts laughing for seemingly no reason.<br /><br />Video-conferencing helps solve those issues by putting everyone on the same visual plane. Lew Epstein, general manager of the Steelcase advanced marketing + applications group,&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">lives in San Francisco and manages a team that's located around the world. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m often on video three or four times a day," he says. Steelcase's finance department integrates video even more thoroughly, with always-on "wormhole" cameras keeping teams in constant communication.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><strong>Spatial Vs. Social</strong><br /><br />But simply turning on a camera isn't enough. How are the lighting and the acoustics, the angle of the camera? What works for two people won't be right for a meeting of 15.&nbsp;<br /><br />Video solutions need to consider real-life scenarios. In a Steelcase survey, 60 percent of respondents said they needed small, private spaces for one-on-one video communications, as well as larger spaces for group video conferences.</p>
<p>Design, quality, and user behavior are all video issues that executives might overlook.&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">But those who&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OkH4AKAkC8" target="_blank">create smart video-conferencing setups</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;will open up endless possibilities for how employees work, where they work, and what type of work they're able to do.</span></p>
<p>For more on the "mixed presence" intersection of physical and virtual space, <strong>read Steelcase's article <a href="http://360.steelcase.com/articles/future-focused/">"Future Focused."</a></strong></p>
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<p>Find out <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sponsor-posts">more about Sponsor Posts.</a></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/office-redesign-improve-bottom-line-steelcase-2013-2" >Why Redesigning Your Workplace Could Improve Your Bottom Line</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/video-conference-setup-steelcase-2013-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/office-redesign-improve-bottom-line-steelcase-2013-2Why Redesigning Your Workplace Could Improve Your Bottom Linehttp://www.businessinsider.com/office-redesign-improve-bottom-line-steelcase-2013-2
Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:34:54 -0500
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<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/511eabdb69bedd0267000000-400-300/sc_na_sponsoredpost_400x300_02_15.jpg" border="0" alt="SC_NA_sponsoredpost_400x300_02_15" style="float: right;" /><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span></p>
<p>Imagine the traditional office setup. Now un-imagine it, because the workplace of the future won't look anything like the offices and cubicles we're used to seeing.</p>
<p>When office-furniture company <a href="http://www.steelcase.com/en/Pages/Homepage.aspx" target="_blank">Steelcase</a> redesigned its offices, its goals were to increase collaboration while cutting the real estate needed per worker. And the creative approaches it took offer inspiration for other companies to reimagine the way they use space.<br /><br /><strong>More Than One Way To Work</strong><br /><br />At the Steelcase global headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the company made strategic changes to its cafeteria, incorporating areas where employees could work together and individually. This gave it&nbsp;"<a href="http://360.steelcase.com/articles/the-next-office-why-ceos-are-paying-attention/">a coffee shop vibe with the functionality of a well-planned office</a>."<br /><br />It's that combination of flexibility and functionality that appeals to employees, who, even when working remotely is an option, prefer the perks of an office to the comfort of a living room couch. In a Steelcase and CoreNet Global report, 72 percent of workers said that an office is the best place to interact with colleagues and access tools and technology.<br /><br /> <strong>The Free-Floating Workspace</strong><br /><br /> Lauren Renner, a financial analyst at Steelcase, doesn't have a fixed office, a cubicle, or even a desk. Instead, every day she picks from among the individual and group workspaces in her department, working at whichever one suits her needs best.<br /><br /> It's certainly not what people envision when they think of the traditional office environment. "People are always surprised when they visit our workspace," says Steelcase CFO Dave Sylvester. "They ask, 'Where are the enclosed offices? ... This is so ... open. People are working in groups, moving around. Is this really Finance?'"<br /><br />Shared spaces give employees more options in terms of the way they choose to work. From an organizational perspective, eliminating typical offices and desks increases the number of people you can fit into one space. Steelcase's redesign of its headquarters cut the real estate required for three departments by almost half.<br /><br /> <strong>Adapting To Thrive</strong><br /><br /> Tomorrow's workplace is, above all else, adaptable. Achieving the right balance of shared and owned spaces opens up endless possibilities, so that collaboration happens not just in meetings but all the time, everywhere, in whichever ways work best for your employees.<br /><br /> To learn more about flexible work environments and the office of the future, read Steelcase's<strong> <a href="http://360.steelcase.com/articles/the-next-office-why-ceos-are-paying-attention/" target="_blank">"The Next Office: Why CEOs Are Paying Attention."</a></strong></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/office-redesign-improve-bottom-line-steelcase-2013-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/sc/how-your-workplace-can-speed-innovation-2014-5How Rethinking Your Workplace Can Speed Innovationhttp://www.businessinsider.com/sc/how-your-workplace-can-speed-innovation-2014-5
Thu, 14 Feb 2013 10:00:00 -0500
<div style="padding: .125em 1em 1em; background-color: #eee;">
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/511aa9beeab8eac03a000012-400-300/theemergingscienceof-innovation_web.jpg" border="0" alt="Steelcase office" style="float: right;" />Picture this: A person sits alone in an office, head in hands. Fingers drum on the desktop. The clock ticks as a deadline looms. Then: "Eureka!" Cue the light bulb, the widened eyes, the "I just had a brilliant idea" music.&nbsp;</p>
<p>As we all know, creativity doesn't always work that way. Innovation is critical when it comes to success in business, whether for a huge corporation or a tiny start-up; and more often than not, the seeds of that innovation will come from the minds of talented employees. But leaving people alone in rooms isn't the best way to spark their mad genius. (Unless, of course, they're all <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/steve-jobs" class="hidden_link">Steve Jobs</a>.)</p>
<p>So how to achieve that "eureka" moment?&nbsp;<span>These days, the most</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;creative professional environments encourage employees to collaborate, share, and develop ideas with their peers. And building<span>&nbsp;a workplace that fosters inspiration doesn't happen by accident.</span></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.steelcase.com/en/pages/homepage.aspx" target="_blank">Steelcase</a> has been leading the charge when it comes to the importance of workplace design in driving innovation, which not only supports overall strategy and impacts the bottom line, but can also have a positive effect on employee culture. It's not a one-size-fits all approach: An office setup that energizes a team of 10 may not inspire employees at a bigger company, just as a business that uses contractors has different needs than one whose creative team is in-house.&nbsp;</p>
<p>In a white paper entitled&nbsp;<a href="http://360.steelcase.com/white-papers/how-place-fosters-innovation/" target="_blank">"How Place Fosters Innovation,"</a> Steelcase presented eight models of innovation that tailor office spaces to companies of varying workforces, needs, and strategies. Among them are:</p>
<p><strong>The "In-House Marketplace Model"</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Goal:&nbsp;</strong>Every team and person within the organization &mdash; from the lowliest junior staffer to the top executives&mdash;is responsible for innovation.</li>
<li><strong>Setup:</strong> Collaboration takes place in "neighborhoods," with a central project area for visual presentations and updates. People can move to private areas to do more focused brainstorming, or to a cafe to talk informally.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>The "In-House Share Model"</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Goal:</strong> Teams work on focused projects, sharing their information with other groups within the company.</li>
<li><strong>Setup:</strong> Specialized teams are grouped together, with individual workstations on the periphery.&nbsp;These areas host a "front porch" for the sharing of public information, yet include private spaces for more sensitive collaborations.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>The "Partnership Model"</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Goal:</strong> Separate partners work on one collaborative project.</li>
<li><strong>Setup:&nbsp;</strong>Each partner has its own company space, but all share one unified space (both physically and virtually). Team members meet, break apart to consult with experts and work in specialized labs, and convene again.</li>
</ul>
<p>It's one thing to stay afloat in a competitive marketplace, but it's another thing to stand out. Before designing or rethinking your workplace, don't just consider what color to paint the walls and which cool chairs to buy&mdash;think about how the layout of your workplace can align with your business strategy and encourage innovation. Pretty soon, all your employees will be mad geniuses in their own right.</p>
<p>Find great advice for the organizational model that applies to your company in&nbsp;<span>Steelcase's</span>&nbsp;helpful white paper, <a href="http://360.steelcase.com/white-papers/how-place-fosters-innovation/" target="_blank">"How Place Fosters Innovation."</a></p>
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